OK, We Admit It: ObamaCare Is Working!

Health Reform: President Obama is right about ObamaCare — "This thing is working." It's working just like critics said it would, and nothing like its supporters promised.

High and rising premiums. Runaway costs. Rampant waste. Workers shoved into government-run exchanges. That's what critics said would happen should ObamaCare remain the law of the land.

And on every point, these critics were viciously attacked by the White House and its amen chorus in the press. But on each, the critics are being proved right while the law's backers try to change the subject.

Warnings of ObamaCare rate shocks were a big myth, we were told — merely "scare tactics" used to gin up opposition to the law by Republicans.

Then the first year's rates came out last fall, and they were far higher than pre-ObamaCare premiums in most states, often even after taxpayer subsidies.

The rate shocks continue. IBD reported this week that two states are proposing rate hikes topping 8% for their 2015 ObamaCare premiums. In Virginia, CareFirst Blue Choice proposed a nearly 15% increase.

According to one insurer, poorer health of enrollees plus ObamaCare taxes and fees are largely to blame.

And a recent analysis by Avalere Health concluded that "double digit premium increases are likely in many markets" for next year.

ObamaCare was also supposed to hold government health costs in check — and even cut the federal deficit. Those who disagreed were told to read Congressional Budget Office reports on the matter.

Now California says ObamaCare will cost state taxpayers $1.2 billion more than expected in Medicaid costs alone. Expect similar reports from other states soon.

Taxpayers will foot most of the bill. As the Avalere report explains, "the burden of any premium increases could be borne primarily by the government, rather than consumers, in highly subsidized states."

ObamaCare was also supposed to wring out waste in the health care system. Instead, it's adding to it.

As IBD reported recently, startup costs alone topped $6.7 billion. Repairing the already massively expensive HealthCare.gov site will cost an additional $121 million, says the contractor hired to do the job. And several states wasted hundreds of millions on failing websites.

Then there's the $1.2 billion federal contract with a firm operating in Wentzville, Ky., to process ObamaCare applications. A local news investigation discovered workers there had almost no work to do.

Health Reform: President Obama is right about ObamaCare — "This thing is working." It's working just like critics said it would, and nothing like its supporters promised.

High and rising premiums. Runaway costs. Rampant waste. Workers shoved into government-run exchanges. That's what critics said would happen should ObamaCare remain the law of the land.

And on every point, these critics were viciously attacked by the White House and its amen chorus in the press. But on each, the critics are being proved right while the law's backers try to change the subject.

Warnings of ObamaCare rate shocks were a big myth, we were told — merely "scare tactics" used to gin up opposition to the law by Republicans.

Then the first year's rates came out last fall, and they were far higher than pre-ObamaCare premiums in most states, often even after taxpayer subsidies.

The rate shocks continue. IBD reported this week that two states are proposing rate hikes topping 8% for their 2015 ObamaCare premiums. In Virginia, CareFirst Blue Choice proposed a nearly 15% increase.

According to one insurer, poorer health of enrollees plus ObamaCare taxes and fees are largely to blame.

And a recent analysis by Avalere Health concluded that "double digit premium increases are likely in many markets" for next year.

ObamaCare was also supposed to hold government health costs in check — and even cut the federal deficit. Those who disagreed were told to read Congressional Budget Office reports on the matter.

Now California says ObamaCare will cost state taxpayers $1.2 billion more than expected in Medicaid costs alone. Expect similar reports from other states soon.

Taxpayers will foot most of the bill. As the Avalere report explains, "the burden of any premium increases could be borne primarily by the government, rather than consumers, in highly subsidized states."

ObamaCare was also supposed to wring out waste in the health care system. Instead, it's adding to it.

As IBD reported recently, startup costs alone topped $6.7 billion. Repairing the already massively expensive HealthCare.gov site will cost an additional $121 million, says the contractor hired to do the job. And several states wasted hundreds of millions on failing websites.

Then there's the $1.2 billion federal contract with a firm operating in Wentzville, Ky., to process ObamaCare applications. A local news investigation discovered workers there had almost no work to do.

"A worker tells News 4 weeks can pass without employees receiving even a single application to process," it noted. One told a reporter that they were told to "act like we were working" when federal officials visited.

Finally, we were told companies wouldn't cancel their employer health insurance once ObamaCare kicked in. Now it looks as though millions of workers will get shoved into government-run exchanges.

A recent study by S&P Capital IQ found that S&P 500 companies alone stand to save $700 billion over the next decade by dumping their health plans. "Neither lawmakers nor the White House originally anticipated the idea that (ObamaCare) could provide corporations with an enormous subsidy" if they did so, the study says.

Even the liberal press is starting to take notice of this impending calamity. A story on NPR this week focused on a midsize company that, pushed by ObamaCare's added costs, considered dropping its health benefit.

And the New York Times last week reported that "the days of Americans getting health insurance through their employers may be numbered."

Is it any wonder that Obama and his fellow Democrats so desperately want to change the subject?

See Also

Taxes: Health and Human Services admits it sent nearly a million incorrect tax forms to ObamaCare enrollees. A government that can't even get something simple like this right has no business running health care.The form in question is a new one — Form 1095-A — that goes to anyone who ...

Phony Numbers: The Obama administration says more than 11 million signed up for ObamaCare this year. Should anyone believe this number? Even if it's true, is it a sign of success? The answer to both is a resounding no.In a staged video released on Tuesday, HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell tells ...

Hypocrisy: If ObamaCare is so great, why do Democrats repeatedly try to hide its more unpleasant features? The latest example is their desperate effort to grant still more exemptions to the law's individual mandate.This week, three House Democrats who helped usher ObamaCare through that chamber ...

Crony Socialism: Among ObamaCare's many bad ideas was the attempt to create an entirely new industry of nonprofit insurance co-ops. It is fast turning into a huge, multibillion-dollar taxpayer boondoggle.Created as an alternative to an outright "public option," the co-ops have received $2.5 billion ...

Spending: President Obama almost sounded like a free-market health care reformer during a recent interview. Too bad he can't even imagine letting the private sector fix things.in an interview published this week on Vox.com, Ezra Klein asks Obama why health care costs so much more in the U.S. than ...

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